Death of a Lesser Deity
by Monotone Magpie
Summary: Cloud attacks a weakened trio of clones and Yazuu learns discovers just how far he's willing to go to protect his God. This is an Advent Children ficlet.


**Death of a Lesser Deity**

The fight had dragged on too long. They were all three of them tired, barely having managed to fend off the outnumbered assault. The man with the gun arm, that woman...Lockheart, the sprightly ninja, the red demon of a beast...It was probably only luck that they'd managed to fight their way back to the bikes and make an escape.

Yazuu knew they were lucky, and a glance at Loz en route to the forest where they now stood, aching and exhausted, told him that his brother felt the same way. But there was no time to relax and comment on their close scrape, for there was another among them that didn't believe in luck. Kadaj would not forgive them for their doubt. For with Kadaj, everything was fate. He was the one who would bring about the revolution, the one that would make their mother proud. Not Yazuu, or Loz, that honor was Kadaj's alone. It was something that both the older clones knew and took to heart. Kadaj was their hope and their savior.

Nursing a sore shoulder where he'd received a wicked blow from Ms. Lockheart, Yazuu crossed the soft, moist, ground of the strange forest that was their sanctuary to his siblings. Silently aqua eyes considered his younger brother before he shook his head, silver hair flitting about his face. "Next time...Loz and I.. It's our fault." He admitted the failure, mostly as his own, though he wasn't worried, knowing Loz wouldn't be offended.

The great God Kadaj opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted as the roar of an engine cut through the still, foggy, air. Slowly the three turned to face this new source of sound, and Yazuu felt his gut lurch. After their embarrassment this was truly the last straw. Why did he come now?! Coward, to strike against a wounded God. It proved this, Cloud-- the failed experiment, was not like them. He had no sense of honor, understanding only one thing: To fight and strike without cease until either his enemies, or he himself, could no longer move against one another. This golden haired man was truly relentless.

They fired off shots in unison, attempting to keep at bay the golden devil, but the three were ultimately thrown aside as the bike cut down the middle of their line, sliding to a stop as the the pursuer was thrown from his perch, the great blade of hell clutched in his hand.

Yazuu gritted his teeth as he was flung far from his brothers, leather against his back ripping and tearing as he slid along the rocks of the forest floor. Agony ripped through his chest as he forced himself up, eyes opening to the sight the clashing sounds in his ears already told him he was missing. There...the three were already engaged, golden hair a blur against the silver and black of his brothers. Quickly Yazuu stood, ignoring the sick feeling in his gut. Velvet Nightmare in hand he moved to fire, to take down the devil, but even as he leveled the sight, pulled the trigger, his precious weapon would not respond. It had died...and Satan and slain it.

Mourning for his dead blade, and sick with worry for his brother's Yazuu ran towards the thick of the fight, aqua eyes watching in horror as the world seemed to slow and the flat of the hell blade connected with Loz's chest, sending his older sibling sprawling backwards, leaving now...only two.

Horrified, Yazuu realized the fight had come down to only two opponents. God and the Devil. Hell and Heaven locked in mortal combat...his savior...his messiah was at risk.

He was only a few feet away now, but he saw it. Saw his God, Kadaj, swung too wide, the backhanded move leaving his front open and exposed; saw the devil's arm tighten and shift as he too saw the open and undefended God. Numbly, Yazuu knew what he had to do. He was imperfect, unlike Kadaj and had no prayer for earning the love of their mother. Revolution was not his part to play in this twisted act. He was here for one reason and one alone; to dedicate his life to Kadaj.

Without hesitation he threw himself between the two, a thin smile creasing pale lips against fair hued skin as the sharp blade cut diagonally through his side from his hip, up through his gut and out across his left shoulder.

He felt himself falling backwards, backwards into the darkness, a befitting end for an imperfect creation. Somewhere outside of his body he was aware of someone yelling, that deep voice...it was Loz, on his feet again and safe, mother be praised. His back hit something then, Kadaj, strong arms wrapping around his waist and he forced his eyes open, watching passively as Loz connected with the devil, blade of the Dual Hound leaving a long dark line of red along the devil's retreating back.

And retreat he did. As the devil fled to his bike and roared off into the distance to nurse his wound, Yazuu allowed himself to relax, crumpling to the ground, his brother's strong arms still wrapped around him, supporting his back and neck as if he were a babe once again. Aqua eyes tipped upwards, peering into the distressed and broken face of his God. Blood was everywhere now, a thin trickle escaping his lips, staining long silvery hair and running over his God's legs to mix with the moist earth. Maybe that was the true secret of the ghostly fog...it was really the spirits of those who had passed here. Soon he would be with this fog as well, his ethereal breath leaving crystals hanging in the air.

"Yazuu!" "Yazuu!" Two voices mixed, calling his name and he forced himself to keep from passing just yet. Still, he could not make out what the God was saying. He saw his brother's lips move, but could not conceive the meaning behind them. "I'm...I'm...sorry Kadaj." He whispered, iron pang in his mouth, "Forgive me...I had to." He insisted. The other was still speaking, and perhaps Loz as well, but he could not hear them. "Don't forget, you're the one she wanted. You've always been...mother's favorite...not Sephiroth...you must...prove to him, you are...the favorite." Feeling utterly spent, Yazuu allowed himself a weak smile. A smile in the face of his own death, for he would die having done what their mother would have wanted him to.

A hand lifted and he caught the tip of his glove between his teeth, slipping his hand loose, only to press his chilled palm against his God's cheek, glove falling to the ground. "I am...glad to go, knowing you're safe. I'll keep watching you...brother."

Yazuu's hand stiffened against the other's and fell; face tipping back towards the sky he could not see. A sheet a silver hair, diluted a rosy hue from crimson fluid, spread out below him. Bloody lips curled once again into a satisfied smile and the life faded from aqua eyes. In a moment, Yazuu was gone, his spirit not drifting up into the sky or heavens beyond, but sinking down to rest in the earth beneath him. A testament to a brother lost, the fog about the remaining two seeming to thicken in response to its new addition.


End file.
